Question

Immediately after a leading food expert revealed that one in every 10 meals in the country may be cooked with dirty oil, the State Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued an emergency notice to restaurants nationwide, warning them against using recycled oil.

Food service providers will be punished if they use illegal cooking oil or oil of an unknown origin. In severe cases, their licenses could be revoked (废除), the notice said.

He Dongping, a food science professor at the Wuhan Polytechnic University, told the China Youth Daily on Thursday that people in China consume "about 2 to 3 million tons" of illegal cooking oil every year.

"And the Chinese people's annual oil consumption is about 22.5 million tons, which means a ratio of 1:10," he told the newspaper.

According to He's research; the illegal cooking oil business is extremely profitable.

The drainage oil (地沟油) is usually made from discarded kitchen waste that has been refined, the report said, adding that the oil, which contains a highly toxic (有毒的) substance, can cause cancer.

Answer 1

 

Say no to recycled oil

The article draws our attention to widespread recycled oil. Refined from kitchen waste , it may do great harm to our body due to its poisonous substance. Fortunately, measures have been taken to punish food providers using such dirty oil.

I can't but feel disgusted when solely thinking of so delicious dishes cooked with the seemingly clean drainage oil. Such dirty and highly toxic oil does bring about the contamination of food and has contributed to serious damage to people’s health. Thus, I feel indignant with those who process and use drainage oil.

To my way of thinking, the major reasons why recycled oil accounts for a significant portion in the food industry are huge profits and inadequate supervision. To prevent recycled oil from being used in cooking, the authorities concerned should make joint efforts to pay long-term attention to this issue as well as enhance inspection and legislation. Illegal oil recyclers and providers must be severely punished. Those businesses that use recycled oil would be forced to close permanently or lose their business license.

As long as drainage oil exists, it will pose potential threat to people’s physical well-being. Therefore, food safety should always be the focus of public attention.